Brain-Machine Interface SystemsLaboratory

University of California, Berkeley

Welcome to the BMI Systems Lab
website

Our
research is concerned
with
investigating the neural
basis of sensorimotor learning and control, and how we can use this
knowledge in a brain-machine interface (BMI) context to improve the
quality
of life for the neurologically impaired.

BMI is about transforming thought into action, or conversely, sensation
into perception. This novel paradigm contends that a
user can perceive sensory information and enact voluntary motor actions
through
a direct interface between the brain and a prosthetic device in
virtually the
same way that we see, walk or grab an object with our own natural
limbs.
Proficient control of the prosthetic device relies on the volitional
modulation of neural ensemble activity, achieved through training with
any combination of
visual, tactile, or auditory feedback.

BMI is also a
powerful tool for modern systems neuroscience to study learning and
adaptation in the brain. It allows visualization of neural
circuit function through spatiotemporal patterns of neural activity
while subjects perform behavioral tasks in both manual and brain
control modes of operation.

At the BMI
Systems Lab we use electrophysiological, behavioral and
computational techniques to ask questions about
how the brain controls movement, as well as to achieve the
technological milestones required to bring BMI to the clinical realm.